Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 121 Kong Jie: I'm rich!
The 26th Division headquarters, upon receiving the telegram from Shenchi County, looked puzzled.

One of the Eighth Route Army divisions was attacking Shenchi County.

How come they don't know.

If a division of the Eighth Route Army is attacking a county town, then who is the Eighth Route Army that their 26th Division is chasing and attacking?

Their division was chasing after the main force of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, so how could the Eighth Route Army possibly mobilize another division?

The other divisions of the Eighth Route Army were also being subjected to large-scale mopping-up operations, and they didn't even have time to break out and escape. How could they possibly run to the Jin-Sui Military Region to attack the county town?

The commander of the Japanese 26th Division immediately sent a telegram in reply.

He reprimanded the Japanese battalion commander in Shenchi County, telling him to investigate thoroughly before reporting back and not to spread false military information.

In Shenchi County, the Japanese battalion commander received a telegram from the division headquarters and looked bitter.

"Baka! There really is the main force of the Eighth Route Army attacking the city outside. The Eighth Route Army has more than twenty cannons. Isn't that the main force of the Eighth Route Army?"

The Japanese battalion commander was furious. Shenchi County was under fierce attack by the Eighth Route Army and was in a precarious situation.

The division headquarters didn't believe his telegram and told him to investigate before reporting back. They even severely reprimanded him in the telegram.

If the division headquarters doesn't send reinforcements to rescue Shenchi County, the county will be lost, and we will be slaughtered by the Eighth Route Army!

Therefore, the Japanese battalion commander wanted the communications soldier to send another message, explaining the urgency of the situation and the fact that the Eighth Route Army outside possessed a large number of artillery pieces.

At that moment, gunshots suddenly rang out outside the garrison.

A Japanese soldier ran in, shouting anxiously:

"Sir, a large number of unidentified enemies have appeared outside and are about to break in."

Upon hearing this, the Japanese battalion commander stood up abruptly, looking both surprised and uncertain.

"What? The Eighth Route Army has stormed into the county town?"

"I don't know. The city gates have been breached by the Eighth Route Army, and the county town has fallen. However, the Eighth Route Army has not yet reached the garrison headquarters. The enemy attacking the garrison headquarters is hidden inside the city."

"Sir, please leave immediately. We will protect you as you make your way back."

"The Japanese soldier said anxiously."

"Baka yarou! What are the soldiers guarding the county town doing? They let the Eighth Route Army break into the county town so quickly."

"Quickly, take me away."

The Japanese battalion commander was so frightened that he lost his composure and cursed in panic to cover up his fear.

He graduated from the Army University and has a bright future ahead of him; he's already a captain at such a young age.

If he had died in this small county town, he would have been unjustly killed.

However, just as the Japanese battalion commander was preparing to escape under the cover of his soldiers...

The gate of the Japanese county garrison was suddenly blown open, and several special forces soldiers rushed into the garrison, spraying bullets with their submachine guns and wiping out the remaining guards inside.

"Quickly, take control of important facilities such as warehouses and armories within the city."

After Zhou Weiguo killed the Japanese battalion commander and the radio operator with a burst of fire, he immediately gave the order.

The first regiment's attack on the city went too smoothly, encountering almost no strong resistance. The soldiers of the first battalion blew open the south gate and rushed into the county town.

The special forces members who had infiltrated the county town also changed their strategy accordingly, directly taking over the Japanese garrison and controlling the warehouses of all sizes in the county town.

Shenchi County, as a crucial hub on both the land and railway flank defense lines, also supplied some coal to Taiyuan, and the city stored a considerable amount of supplies.

Although the spoils were not as plentiful as when they were captured in Shouyang County, the amount of supplies stored was still considerable.

To prevent the Japanese from burning the supplies in desperation, Zhou Weiguo sent soldiers to control the warehouse and wait for the First Battalion of soldiers who had already stormed into the city to take over.

Outside Shenchi County, Kong Jie watched with some surprise and uncertainty as the First Battalion of soldiers stormed into the county town in one fell swoop under the cover of two artillery rounds.

"Why are the county towns in northwestern Shanxi so easy to attack? When I besieged Meng County, the Japanese soldiers there weren't this weak."

Kong Jie had a feeling that the attack on the county town had gone too smoothly.

When did attacking a county town become such an easy thing?

Before he could even launch his planned follow-up offensive, the first battalion of soldiers stormed into the county town.

The smoothness of the surface even made Kong Jie think that this was another county town defended by puppet troops.

Kong Jie knew that with the First Regiment plus artillery units roughly equivalent to a regiment, taking the county town was inevitable.

With such strong firepower, they could take down more than two hundred Japanese soldiers and more than two hundred puppet troops, even if they used artillery to bombard them.

Kong Jie was unaware that the Japanese battalion commander, having long faced relatively low-intensity warfare, primarily fought defensive battles to protect the rear of the 120th Division.

In addition, with the large-scale mopping-up operation underway, the Japanese battalion commander misjudged the situation and did not believe that the unknown number of enemies outside the city meant they were going to attack the county town.

The Japanese battalion commander only ordered the soldiers on guard to strengthen their defenses, without putting the county town into a state of combat readiness. This allowed Kong Jie to seize the opportunity when the Japanese defenses were in a vacuum.

"Quickly, all units enter the county town immediately, clear out the remaining Japanese soldiers, and transport supplies," Kong Jie ordered immediately.

Anyway, the county town has been captured, so why think so much? The number of Japanese soldiers inside the town has been scouted, and even if there's some conspiracy, Kong Jie isn't afraid of such a small number of Japanese soldiers.

Under Kong Jie's orders, the Third Battalion, which was preparing to launch a feint attack, and the Second Battalion, which was waiting for the special forces to capture the city gate and come to their aid, both sprang into action.

After leaving a group of soldiers outside to prevent the Japanese soldiers inside the city from escaping, the rest of the soldiers entered the county town.

During this time, the battalion commander of the second battalion was still muttering:

"When did the Japanese become so weak? Our Second Battalion was supposed to be responsible for taking the county town, but now they've become just there to make up the numbers."

The Second Battalion, as their trump card, was tasked with capturing the county town this time.

However, because the Japanese were unprepared, the First Battalion captured the county town directly, and the Second Battalion had no more battles to fight.

Fortunately, the Second Battalion wiped out more than 100 Japanese soldiers and captured nearly 200 puppet troops in Nanzhuangzi Village, so they managed to get some meat, and the battalion commander of the Second Battalion was not too depressed.

Meanwhile, the battalion commander of the third battalion was already cursing.

"Damn it, the first battalion took the county town and made the greatest contribution this time. The second battalion also eliminated more than 300 enemies. Only our third battalion got nothing and was bitten by mosquitoes all night."

The First Battalion attacked too quickly; before the Third Battalion could even launch a feint attack, the county town was gone.

More than 300 soldiers were bitten by mosquitoes all night and didn't even get to participate in a single battle.

"Alright, stop complaining. After we get the supplies out of the county, there are still Japanese strongholds. We'll definitely be involved in the fighting then," the Third Battalion Political Instructor comforted the Third Battalion Commander.

"Sigh, that's true." The battalion commander of the third battalion felt much better after thinking about it.

"Hurry up! There should still be some Japanese soldiers left in the city. If we outrun them, the Second Battalion can catch them!" the Third Battalion Commander shouted, encouraging his soldiers to speed up.

Inside Shenchi County, Kong Jie stepped into the county that had been occupied by the Japanese army for more than three years, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

"Commander, the supplies have all been tallied."

"The county town has a total of 200 tons of grains such as wheat and oats, 30 tons of salt, sugar and canned goods, 60 tons of horse feed (barley and hay), and 160 mules and horses."

"More than 300 rifles, 10 light and heavy machine guns, 2 Type 92 infantry guns, 4 mortars, 120,000 rifle rounds, 2000 artillery shells, 5000 grenade launcher rounds, and 5000 hand grenades."

"In addition, there are 60 tons of gasoline/diesel, 1000 boxes of sulfanilamide, bandages, 10 tons of alcohol, more than 1,000 winter coats, more than 2,000 pairs of military boots, 3 tons of telephone lines, and 3 sets of wireless equipment."

"In addition, there were more than 1500 tons of coal, more than 1500 cartons of cigarettes, and 1200 jin of liquor."

The battalion commander excitedly reported on the spoils of war.

The battle ended too quickly; it was a one-sided rout that didn't give the Japanese any chance to destroy their supplies.

The battalion of soldiers who stormed into the county town quickly wiped out the Japanese soldiers and puppet troops in the town, and at the same time sent troops to take over the warehouse controlled by the special forces soldiers.

After listening to the battalion commander's report, Kong Jie gasped in shock.

"How many?"

He could hardly believe that capturing the county town could yield so much spoils.

This is far more than the spoils gained from attacking Japanese strongholds and eliminating Japanese soldiers in the field.

As a transit point for supplying surrounding outposts, the county town usually stores a large amount of supplies.

"Commander, I'm not mistaken, that's exactly how much we've captured." The battalion commander repeated the number of spoils.

Unlike Kong Jie, the battalion commander of the First Regiment was originally a company commander in the Independent Second Regiment before he became the battalion commander of the First Regiment.

When I followed Chen Ming to conquer Shouyang, I was shocked by the large amount of supplies stored in Shouyang County.

Now that he could do it all over again, he was happy, but not as shocked as Kong Jie.

"Come on, read it again." Kong Jie grinned from ear to ear, smoking as he made the battalion commander read it again.

This was the first time he had seized so many supplies at once.

Compared to his previous days in the Independent Regiment, Kong Jie felt that the Independent Regiment had only been engaging in small-scale operations.

Attacking the Japanese strongholds and supply convoys is nothing compared to attacking a county town.

Following Kong Jie's instructions, the battalion commander read out the quantity of captured supplies for the third time.

With each word he read, Kong Jie felt a surge of satisfaction. It wasn't until the battalion commander finished reading that Kong Jie came to his senses and ordered his soldiers to organize the masses and transport the supplies back.

Kong Jie was terrified of being poor, and this time, he suddenly became rich and arrogant.

While organizing the transfer of supplies, the soldiers of the First Regiment were not idle either.

In order to prevent the Japanese soldiers in the stronghold from attacking the supply convoy, Kong Jie immediately decided to leave some soldiers to defend the county town and others to protect the supply convoy.

The remaining people all took the initiative and destroyed all the strongholds in Shenchi County that had not yet been captured.

Previously, in order to lure out the Japanese soldiers, only one of the four infantry guns brought by the artillery was deployed.

Now there's no need to hide anymore. With the two captured guns in the county town, we can just push the infantry guns and bombard the Japanese stronghold!
Unlike mortars, direct-fire artillery was highly effective at hitting Japanese pillboxes and strongholds.

Basically, one shot is enough to wipe out the Japanese soldiers inside the pillbox. Even if one shot isn't enough, you can fire another.

As long as the target isn't a large reinforced concrete stronghold, there's no infantry artillery that can't handle it!
(End of this chapter)